7+ Year Member

7+ Year Member

I swear by my dansko's professionals, but have a habit of rolling my ankles because of the height of the sole (happens mostly when I'm tired). While certainly good for my feet, I think dankos best benefit are actually on my lower back strain.

I used to be a birkenstock girl, but atleast in the original footbed, there's NO comparison to the arch supports of danksos. How do the super-birki (i.e. not cork) clogs compare to the original?

Moderator Emeritus10+ Year Member

Originally posted by njbmd Danskos have a heel, which I hate. I felt like I was falling forward most of the time. Most of the folks in my program wear Danskos but the "coolest" folks wear the Birks!

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I don't like the heel on the Dansko clogs either. I felt like I was about to pitch forward @ any given time & they weren't especially comfortable.

I have a pair of Birks like NJBMD, the Boston style in black which hides stains well. I've gone back & forth on how comfortable they are over the years & I don't wear them often.

My favorites for a # of years are the Medi-Plogs ( http://www.plogs.com/mediplogs.html ) . They a have a nice low heel profile & don't have the dorky wide clown toes like the plastic birkenclogs. I'm on my fourth pair of them now. You can autoclave them as well. They're much studier then the Calzuro clogs I think & don't have the high heel lift I find unstable

I have to say I never thought of myself as a shoe guru but when you're standing and walking as much as we do, you'll try anything. I've tried a ton of different pair of shoes. Everyone likes something different because their feet are shaped differently and our posture is different.

I have a pair of Salomon's, Dansko's, Birks, and Merrells. I actually have a couple more pair but don't know what they are cuz I don't wear them.

I'll hype up the Merrell's but I don't think they're chick magnets! Definitely the most comfortable pair I own.

Moderator Emeritus10+ Year Member

Originally posted by Docgeorge Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but will not the vent holes in the medi-plogs allow blood to seep into your shoe duirng a trauma???

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Only if you get the PLOG's or Calzuros with the perforations on top. They have a non-perforated one which is not well-ventilated. The Medi-PLOG's vent holes are facing down along the toebox & I never have had anything seep up into them (you have to be about 1" deep in blood to get it up into them)

10+ Year Member

I have both birkenstocks and danskos. I love my danskos. The heal took a little to get used to, but now i suffer without them. I'm short as well, so i like the extra height. I also like that they slip off easily if you need to cool your feet down during a long case. They do take quite a bit of time to break in.

My birks are just OK. I find them too flat and my heal hurts after a few hours. I also find them a bit "floppy" during laparoscopic cases when i'm using a foot pedal. Also, my feet stink after wearing them any lenght of time. My feet never never smell with the danskos.

The danskos look the coolest though (in my humble opinion). And fashion is everything - end of argument!

Moderator Emeritus10+ Year Member

Originally posted by gatorAKM i love my klogs. so do many people in my class.

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I tried a pair of them about 2 months ago when I lost my Medi-plogs. I wore them about a week then threw them away. They were too soft with zero support & KILLED my lower back. I'm now happily back to the Medi-plog desighn.

10+ Year Member

Originally posted by Blade28 You don't need to keep your shoes on, due to the shoe covers?

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As a cost saving measure at my institution they have gotten rid of shoe covers. You can usually find a pair if you're in a "messy" case, but for most cases they won't let you have them. You need to have dedicated OR shoes that you don't wear around the rest of the hospital. I change shoes when i pass thru the locker room on the way out of the OR.

Originally posted by tussy As a cost saving measure at my institution they have gotten rid of shoe covers. You can usually find a pair if you're in a "messy" case, but for most cases they won't let you have them.

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Wow. This I can understand for lap choles or lap appys, but what about AAAs, BKAs, AKAs and the like?

7+ Year Member

All I wear are my Red Wing cowboy boots. The one time I wore my old clogs from med school I ended up getting my socks and feet completely soaked in blood from an emergency case (I wasn't planning on operating that day so I figured clogs were safe.) From that day on, I never wore anything but my trusty boots. It looks ratty, but they're comfortable and my feet stay clean.

Moderator Emeritus5+ Year Member

Originally posted by tussy I have both birkenstocks and danskos. I love my danskos. The heal took a little to get used to, but now i suffer without them. I'm short as well, so i like the extra height. I also like that they slip off easily if you need to cool your feet down during a long case. They do take quite a bit of time to break in.

My birks are just OK. I find them too flat and my heal hurts after a few hours. I also find them a bit "floppy" during laparoscopic cases when i'm using a foot pedal. Also, my feet stink after wearing them any lenght of time. My feet never never smell with the danskos.

The danskos look the coolest though (in my humble opinion). And fashion is everything - end of argument!

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Hi there,
When I am doing laparoscopic cases, I usually slip my foot out of my Birkie Bostons and hit the pedal. Since I love that instant cool feeling, I like to slip out on the long cases anyway. I am as tall or taller than most of the folks that I operate with so I don't need any more height from a shoe.

For folks who are wearing running shoes,I learned about 3 months into my intern year that I didn't ever want to wear anything with shoe laces into the OR even with shoe covers, after I ruined a good pair of Nikes. The Danskos are cute but I love the 'retro" look of the Birkies too.

My best investment is a little contraption called a "Foot Fixer". It is a foot bath with a hydromassager setting built in. I put my feet into this for about 30 minutes every night while I am doing my daily reading. I also love a weekly pedicure as my reward for getting through the week. I am probably keeping one little Korean lady in business with my weekly pedicures. Have to keep the feet happy these days.

7+ Year Member

I'm certainly not an expert on boots, but I can relate my own experiences. I own a couple of pairs of Tony Lamas with roper soles - polished leather. Because I have flat feet, I also use generic orthotic insoles - I keep meaning to get custom orthotics, but I can't seem to find the time or the energy to make the appointment with a podiatrist.

The boots are constricting for the first couple of weeks, and you'll find yourself not walking so much as sauntering. But once you break them in, they're utterly form-fitting. The knee and lumbar pain that accompanied long cases has entirely disappeared since I started wearing them, and they're comfortable enough at this point that I can sleep in them while on call.

Another advantage is that they can be worn as moderately dressy shoes, if you keep them polished and in good shape. They can be resoled and re-heeled indefinitely.

Buy your boots from someplace that specializes in that footwear, as the fitting is counterintuitive. The boot you want will feel much too tight when you try it on, but if you buy boots that feel comfortable in the store, you will end up with loose-fitting shoes later on.

As far as image: they sure are conversation starters. As long as you don't try to live up to the image of machismo or cowboy-hood that seems to come with the boots, it can be positive! Some of the nurses call me Doctor Boots - affectionately. I make no bones about not being a cowboy, not being from Texas and being more comfortable around cats than horses.

Any other questions I'll be happy to answer, but really, the best source of information would be people selling you boots.

10+ Year Member

I too have flat feet and have suffered with the pain untill about 2 years ago when I got somecustom inserts. They are worth their weight in gold. I dont think you need to go to a poditarist to get them. I found out that most orthodics places will cast your feet and make proffessional one for you. The casting only take 10 or 15 min. Plus you save on the poditrist mark up and office visit.

Patient: Doc you've got some mighty big fingers.

Me: It's ok...I wont feel a thing.

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I just went into a store and tried on the Dansko Karls and Merrell Primo Breezes. Man both were so comfortable (albeit in different ways...the Danskos more for their arch support, the Merrells for the "sneaker" feeling).

7+ Year Member

IMHO, until they look grubby, Dansko professionals in "box leather" (the same sole as the Karl but with a closed back) can be worn with business attire which is incredibly handy when you're not wearing srubs. Of course if you're at a place without shoe covers, you maybe looking to designate these as your grubby shoes.... You can get "seconds" from www.danskooutlet.com for roughly $70 (though I don't usually have to figure in shipping to Hawaii when I shop online!). I've not personally seen any of their seconds (they are described on the website), but my guess is that they're about what mine looked like after wearing them for a month or so. Ebay is also a great option if you're looking for something simple like the professional or karl styles in black or brown, other styles and colors are available, but may take more time to appear. I got both pairs of my dansko professionals new off ebay because I can't stand paying full price for anything. Just make sure you know your size, obviously.

I've not tried an Merrell's, but this thread has me keeping them in mind.....

I did try on a variety of other clogs last week at the uniform sale in our lobby (some of the ones mentioned here). But NOTHING compared to the arch support of my dankso's.

Originally posted by keraven Blade: let me tell you that there's really nothing you can't find on ebay espcially if you've got a couple of weeks an can wait for it to appear. And I CERTAINLY take arch support.